Protecting Father's Rights in South Jordan & Utah County
The legal rights of children born to married parents are automatically established at birth. However, in cases involving children born to unmarried parents, “paternity” (also referred to as “parentage”) must be established in order to formalize certain rights and responsibilities.
Methods to Establish Paternity in Utah of varying complexity and effort:
- The simplest method is when both parents sign and file a voluntary declaration of paternity.
- Another option is to involve Utah’s Office of Recovery Services (“ORS”) and obtain an administrative order.
- The final method involves filing a formal petition for paternity with the court.
Requesting an administrative order from ORS is relatively simple for the requesting party, but ORS cannot decide important provisions related to custody and parent time. ORS is limited to initiating and enforcing child support and other financial obligations between the parents. A formal court order is necessary to adopt a detailed parenting plan that includes provisions regarding parent time and parental decision making authority.
Understanding Your Parental Rights in Paternity Cases
A parenting plan will likely be the most important section in the final decree of paternity, so it’s important to get it right and be as detailed as possible. In cases involving parents who have had trouble cooperating, a parenting plan should include plenty of details that will govern the parental rights and responsibilities of the parties. For example, a parenting plan should at a minimum, allocate amounts of time the child will spend with each parent.